Overlooked, or the life of a gangly red head
by squeeky-toy-123
Summary: Every wondered what happened to Ron and Hermione before Harry came to number twelve Grimauld Place? Besides cleaning. Pretty much, Ron's life from the beginning of the 5th book. Hermione hasn't showed up yet though.
1. Reading the Stars

**Disclaimer- Once there was a girl who didn't own HP. She was me. **

**A/N- set in book 5.**

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**Chapter 1- 0.o**

A red haired teen sat on the edge of a bed covered in a bright orange comforter reading a very long letter. He looked to be about 15 and he was about a head taller than he should have been, but he wasn't fat. Quite the opposite actually. He was so absorbed in his letter that when a loud _crack_ came out of nowhere behind him, he jumped almost two feet in the air, hitting his head on the rather low ceiling. Another red haired boy was standing behind him, an evil grin on his face. He stood a good half a foot lower than the other boy, but the look of superiority on his face made him seem to be much older. The younger boy yelped.

"George, can't you go anywhere without apparating?" he asked in an exasperated voice "Just because you _can_ do magic doesn't mean that you have to for every little thing. Mum's nerves are stretched to breaking point."

The older boy -George- shrugged his shoulders, accepting the fact. He seemed about to speak when yet another red headed youth stepped into the room. From the tips of his flaming hair to his rather large feet, he was the spitting image of George He was holding a wand out in front of him, and his trunk, stuffed to its limit, was hovering, in front of him. He lowered his wand and Ron swore.

"Sorry mate," Fred said as he floated his trunk off Ron's foot "you can't aim too well with wands."

"Whatcha doing with the trunk?" Ron asked, nodding towards it.

"That's why I came up here," Fred said "To tell you that Mum says you both have to pack. Ginny are George are both all ready."

"But where are we-" Ron was cut off by yet another person entering his room which was becoming more and more crowded. The newest entrant was about the same height as the twins and had the same apple-red hair. She was plump and motherly, and at the moment her face was angry and annoyed. "I thought you'd be packed already!" she said in a tight voice "We're leaving in two hours. I'd get going if I were you." With that, she left.

Ron tried again "But where-"

Fred interrupted. "I don't know. Mum wouldn't tell me. Get packing unless you want another bump on your head."

Ron scowled and started to walk around the room, throwing his few possessions into a small bag. He was folding his new dress robes (it had been so nice of George to buy them for him!) when he remembered about his letter. Ron ripped a small piece of the parchment off the bottom or the letter, grabbed a quill and some ink off his desk and wrote:

_Dear Hermione, _

_We're going somewhere, don't know where yet. Write more later_

_Ron._

After writing it, he grabbed what seemed (at first glance) to be a fluffy duster, but when he picked it up, it began to hoot wildly.

"Oh shut up you feathery git," Ron muttered as he tied the letter to his owls leg. "and be careful, okay?" He stroked the owl, and it quieted. Ron put the owl on his arm and continued, "I wont be here next time you come so don't come back here, okay? I don't know where I'll be but I know you'll find me. I know you will." With that he walked over to the window and extended his arm into the warm summer air. When the owl didn't budge Ron began to shake his arm violently. After a couple of minutes of being bounced up and down the tiny owl took off into the cloudless sky.

**0.o**

Ron, Ginny, and Mrs. Weasly all stood in the kitchen, tying their trunks to the handles of broomsticks. Ron stared at the beat up handle of the Shooting Star he was holding.

' _I need a new broom,'_ he thought desperately. _'nothing too fancy, nothing to new, maybe even the same model, but I really need a new broom.' _His stream of thought was broken by his mothers voice.

'The cloud layer looks thicker now,' she said in a desolate voice 'I guess we should go.' She glanced over at her house, her eyes sad. Ron couldn't understand why his mother looked so sad, he was full of excitement. As they kicked off the ground, He flew higher than the rest of them, happy to be once again on a broom. He hadn't been on one since he and Fred were playing apples, a game they had made up that improved Fred's beating skills. Ron loved to fly, and he had always dreamed of being on the Quidditch team. Lately though, he had been thinking about how Wood would be gone this year, and who would take his place on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. He had always played keeper when it had been he and his family playing together, but on a house teem, that was a totally different matter. He wasn't a crowd pleaser like George or Fred was. But as Ron's thoughts turned to Fred and George, he remembered where they were going, headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. The Order of the Phoenix! Ron couldn't believe it. Of course, they were only going because Mr. and Mrs. Weasly had to be there but he would still be in the biggest rebel group in the whole Wizidarding world right now. He couldn't really ask Mrs. Weasly anything about it because every time it got mentioned, she would go oddly still and become silent. Ron was guessing that it had something to do with Percy leaving. He and Mr. Weasly had had a rather bad row, and it had ended with Percy storming out of their house, never to be seen at home since. Ron had often wondered what his father did when he bumped into Percy at work, he suspected that it would be rather embarrassing.

'_Oh well,'_ Ron thought bitterly _'That's Percy's problem, not ours. I only wish mum would be happy again'_

"Ron?" Ginny's voice penetrated his thoughts. "You okay?"

It was only then that Ron realized he has an ugly look across his face. Discarding it, he smiled at his little sister.

"It's okay Ginns, I was just thinking about Percy"

Ginny glanced behind her to see if Mrs. Weasly would hear before whispering "Bill heard from him yesterday."  
Ron looked at her openmouthed. _"What!"_

"Yeah," Ginny said, eyes wide "He told Bill to come over to the good side and not hang around with us 'riff-raff' anymore."

Ron's eyes narrowed. He had always liked Percy least of his 5 wizarding brothers, but he'd never thought he would do something like call them riff-raff. Malfoy had called him that his first year at Hogwarts, was Percy thinking of him as Malfoy did?

Ron fell back to fly beside Mrs. Weasley.

"Mum?"

"Hmmm.." Said Mrs. Weasly, obviously in her own world "I mean, yes Ron, what is it?"

Ron studied his mother, she looked even sadder than she had the last couple of weeks.

"Are you okay, mum?" Ron asked her quietly.

"Yes dear, I'm fine," Mrs. Weasly hitched on a smile "I'm just thinking about the stars."

Ron looked up, it was indeed a beautiful night.

"Centaurs can tell the future from those," Mrs. Weasly took her hand off her broom to point up at the sky, and her trunk swayed dangerously, so she quickly grabbed onto the handle of her broom again.

Ron stared into the sky for a moment then said quietly

"I love you, mum." and flew ahead to be with George.

Mrs. Weasly behind them by herself, thinking about the 'stars'.

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A/N- I had this on FF but then I took it off. I really don't know where to end it. suggestions appreciated


	2. Letters from Friends

**Chapter 2 0.o**

Ron tip-toed through the entrance hall of number 12 Grimauld place. Being in the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix wasn't as exciting as he had thought it would be. Actually, he might have preferred being home, seeing as all he was doing was housecleaning. He still had no idea what you-know-who was up to, as he couldn't go into the meetings, but at least he had gotten to meet Tonks. Tonks was one of the members of the Order of the Phoenix. She was a metamorphmagus, meaning she could change her appearance at will. Ron desperately to have that ability, and couldn't believe that she kept the same eyes, nose and ears most of the time. Tonks usually had short, pink hair, but that she sometimes changed. Still quiet, Ron ran past his mothers room into his own where he collapsed onto the bed. He quickly jumped out of bed again after hearing a tapping at the window. He raced over to open it and wasn't surprised to see Hedwig there.

"Hello girl!" he called out to her "Come and have something to eat."

Hedwig followed his actions almost exactly, perching on Pigwidgion's perch and nibbling on a rice cracker Ron had left on his desk. Ron was about to shut the window, when another feathery ball blew inside.

"Pig!" Ron whispered happily, "Nice to have you back."

Pigwidgion made to fly over to his perch, but after a glare from Hedwig settled on the desk where the rice cake was, taking bites when Hedwig wasn't watching.

Ron had untied both of his letters, and was now staring at them both, wondering which he should read first. He decided to get the worst over with and unrolled the one that Hedwig had been carrying. It read:

_Ron!_

_Where are you? Why am I stuck at the Durselys, while you get to have all sorts of fun at the burrow? Why aren't you getting ignored, beat up, and otherwise un-appreciated at number 4 Privet Drive? Is Hermione with you, and if so ,why aren't I with you guys?_

_I want answers Ron, and I mean it._

_Harry_

"Ah well," Ron muttered quietly to himself "just the usual".

He had gotten a number of letters like these , all almost identical , and Ron wasn't allowed to answer any of the questions that Harry proposed. Thinking that he might as well get it over with, he picked up his quill and scratched:

_Harry,_

_I'll see you soon, I cant put the answer to your questions on paper, obviously. I'm very sorry and I hope Hermione will be here soon. _He paused, thinking about scratching the last bit out. He decided against it, Harry _had_ asked him if she was there. _How are the Durselys? Horrible as ever? Er… I miss you and I hope we'll be able to do our back to school shopping together_

_Ron_

Ron re-read the letter and sighed. It was so pathetic. Back to school shopping? He lay the letter down beside Pig, giving Hedwig some resting time before beginning the long journey back to Privet Drive. He then eagerly picked up Hermione's letter, smoothed it out and began to read.

_Dear Ron,_

_Guess what? I'm coming to stay with you guys at the Order of the Phoenix! I'll probably be arriving at around five on Wednesday, and I'm so excited about seeing you. - _Here, Ron paused. _She _was excited about seeing _him?_ Impossible. Well, highly unlikely. he sat for a moment before continuing to read_ - I'll be bringing all my last year supplies, and I was thinking that maybe we could go to Diagon Alley to do get our books for this year._

_Love,_

_Hermione._

Ron looked up at the clock on his bedroom wall. It was 3:30 Tuesday.

"Mum, Ginny!" he called down the stairs, "guess what? Hermione is coming to stay with us!"

Molly appeared, looking amused "Yes, Ron we were aware of that" she said "But thanks for telling us in person."

Ginny giggled.

Ron's ears turned red.


	3. Thanks, Weasly

**Chapter 3 0.o**

The next day Ron rose with the sun and went downstairs for breakfast. He sat down across from a tired looking Tonks who had bags under her eyes and looked very much under the weather.

"Whatcha doing up so early?" The woman asked looking across the long table at him. Today she had shoulder length lime green hair which stuck out every which way. It was obvious that she hadn't slept that night.

"Um… nothing?" Ron tried and failed to act like he got up at 5:30 every morning. Changing the topic, he said quickly "What's with _you_ anyways? You look like Lupin after a full moon!"

Tonks checked her reflection in the back of her spoon, snorted in disgust and wrinkled up her nose. Instantly, her bags disappeared and her hair smoothed, straightened and began to turn a rich brown-y red color.

"Better?" She asked him. "Now will you tell me about this girl… Hermione? (she pronounced it Her-MEE-own )

"It's Hermione!" Ron said indignantly (he pronounced it correctly XD) "And there's nothing to tell…"

"Really?" she smirked at him. That's not what I heard.

"No really!" The boy implored "Me and Hermione have always been friends, never anything more than that."

Tonks took a sip of coffee, and opened her mouth to speak, but just at that moment Mr. Weasly ran into the room.

"Do I look like a muggle?"

Ron tipped his head to the side, like he had seen people do in the movies, and tried not to laugh. Actually, for Mr. Weasly standards, it wasn't too bad. He was wearing a royal purple jacket over a dark, forest green T-shirt, dark, tan colored dress pants, and to top it all off, a shiny black top hat. Tonks looked over at Ron, her eyes daring him to say something embarrassing.

"Uh …you look …erm … good?" Ron phrased this as a question, not a statement.

Mr. Weasly didn't seem to catch on.

"W-what time is it?" Tonks question was stifled by a yawn.

Ron looked at the muggle watch Harry had gotten him for his last birthday. "7:45" He announced, a little surprised at how much time had gone by.

Tonks jumped out of her chair and rubbed her face hard with her hands. "Oh m-my gosh, I gotta go down to the-" She stopped after a glare from Mr. Weasly, and glanced at Ron "I mean, I … have to … go … now…" With that, she disappeared with a loud crack. Ron was surprised that people could apparate in the house they were it. He would have thought that it would make I easy for an enemy to find them, but with Dumbledore as their secret keeper, who knew what would happen if an enemy tried to materialize into headquarters? But as Ron was pondering this, there came two identical _cracks_ came from behind him. He jumped a little bit, fell off his chair, and landing hard on his butt. Glaring at his older brothers, he picked himself up and with as much dignity as he could muster, and strode out of the room. He heard laughter in the kitchen, but did his best to ignore it as he marched up to his room to change.

**0.o**

Ron glanced at the window of a red sports car, trying to catch a glimpse of his reflection in it without being totally obvious about what he was doing. What he saw of himself was an odd, distorted image of a tall red haired boy with gangly arms and legs and a long nose. He looked down at his digital watch and saw that it was 5:15. It wasn't like Hermione to be late. He looked around him. How did muggles do it? He could never live without magic, that was for sure. They had coped pretty well, though.

Tonks, as though reading his thoughts, said quietly "Yeah, pretty weird, isn't it?"

Ron turned to the lady who he had come to be friends with and smiled at her "Nice hair."

Tonks ran her fingers through her, now short bright pink hair. "You really like it?"

Ron nodded. "It's very becoming."

Tonks smiled "Thanks, Weasly" and they fell back into silence.


End file.
